‘Drinkwater’ film finally heading to small screen
Nearly three years after it was shot, a film that cast Penticton as one of its main characters will soon be available to a national audience.
“Drinkwater” makes its debut on the Amazon Prime Canada video streaming service this Friday.
The feel-good film, which was shot over a period of just 16 days in the fall of 2020 at iconic locations around Penticton, was produced by Suitcase Charlie Films, the president of which is Graham Fraser, who owns the Penticton Vees and is the former owner of Ironman Canada.
After its official release in the fall of 2021, “Drinkwater” screened at a variety of festivals, where it picked up a handful of awards, and then had a limited run in theatres in the fall of 2022.
“The interesting thing about the film world is films aren’t like a one-hit wonder: You spend years getting them out,” said Fraser in an interview Wednesday.
“We’re really thrilled, because most films just go onto the lower paid platforms and they don’t really get a national audience.”
Amazon Prime Canada had approximately 12 million subscribers as of last year, according to estimates from industry sources, meaning Penticton now has an opportunity to make millions of new first impressions.
“We want people who watch this film to go, ‘Wow, where did they film that? We want to go there,’ because it really looks beautiful on screen,” said Fraser.
With his Canadian deal set, Fraser now hopes to get “Drinkwater” onto streaming services in the U.S. and around the world.
Fraser said his company is shooting another movie this summer in the Okanagan, casting for which is already underway, and is continuing work on a big-budget adaption of the best-selling book “Road to Valour.”
The book tells the story of Italian cyclist Gino Bartalli, who won the Tour de France both before and after serving in the Second World War, during which he helped smuggle false identity documents to Jewish families.
Fraser said he’s now working on the project with Clint Eastwood’s film production company after an introduction from “Drinkwater” director Stephen Campanelli.
“Drinkwater” follows awkward teen Mike Drinkwater (Daniel Doheny, a Canadian actor best known for starring in “Adventures in Public School”) and his offbeat father Hank (Eric McCormack of “Will & Grace” fame), who spends more time trying not to get caught defrauding the government than being a role model.
With Hank’s old high school bully Wesley back in the picture, and Wesley’s son Luke now bullying Mike, things finally take a turn for the better when a young girl from the U.S. moves in next door.
She helps Mike fit in and train for a big cross-country race against Luke, while Mike helps her adjust to a new life in small-town B.C.
“Drinkwater” is based on a short film called “A Change of Pace” that was written and shot by Fraser and his friend, Mike Drinkwater, when they were in high school 40 years ago in Ontario.
The movie collected dust until Fraser’s son, Luke, who graduated from film school at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2019, retrieved it from storage, then freshened and expanded the script with the help of co-writer Edward McDonald.